Damper-regulator for furnaces.



T. H. & F. RHODES. DAMPER REGULATOR FOR FURNAGES. APPLICATION IIILEDDEC. 8, 1910.

1,055,655. Patented Mar.11,1913.

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' and m KZ THOMAS H. RHODES AND FREDERICK RHODES, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

DAMPER-REGULATOR FOR FURNACES.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

Application filed December 8, 1910. Serial No. 596,197. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS H. RHODES and FREDERICK RHODES, bothcitizens of the United States, and residents of the city ofPhiladelphia, county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented an Improvement in Damper-Regulators for Furnaces, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention has reference to damper regulators for furnaces andconsists of certain improvements which are fully set forth in thefollowing specification and shown in the accompanying drawings whichform a part thereof.

The object of our invention is to provide a construction of damperregulator which shall have capacity for automatically putting on thedraft of a furnace at a definite predetermined time, whereby it ispossible to cause the furnace to automatically increase its temperatureearly in the morning before the occupants of the house find it desirableto arise. Heretofore, it has been necessary for some one to go to thecellar and properly adjust the dampers of the furnace to increase thetemperature in the upper portion of the house, and it is to avoid thisgreat inconvenience in houses not employing servants that our inventionhas its special utility.

Our invention consists essentially in providing the furnace with meansto control the draft and combining therewith an automatic clockcontrolled mechanism which will act to permit the means for controllingthe draft to come into operation to increase the draft at a definitetime, said time being governed by the special appliances of the clockwhich are automatically actuated similarly to the operation which willcause an alarm at a definite hour.

Our invention also comprehends details of construction, which, togetherwith features above specified, will be better understood by reference tothe drawings, in which Figure l is an elevattion of a furnace having ourimprovements applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion ofFig. 1 showing more clearly the details of construction of our improvedmechanism; and Fig. 3 is a cross section of the-same looking toward theclock.

A is the furnace and may be of any ordinary or suitable construction.

B is the smoke pipe leading from the furnace and preferably providedwith a draft controlled valve C which when open permits the air to enterthe chimney pipe B and thus reduce the draft thereof upon the furnace.

E is the ordinary draft controlling damper to the ash pit of thefurnace. When the damper E is closed and the valve C is open, there islittle or no draft through the furnace, but when the damper E is openand the valve C closed, the draft will then be increased and it is thepurpose of our invention to be able to make this change in the damperautomatically and at a predetermined time.

F is a chain connected at one end to the damper E leading into the ashpit of the furnace and at the other end to a weighted lever D which isconnected with the damper or valve C in the chimney. This chain isguided over two guide pulleys G G which are respectively above thedamper E and the weighted lever D, and furthermore, the said chain hassecured to it a rod I having a series of aperturesJ and said rod I maybe considered as a link in the length of the chain.

L is a clock of any suitable construction and is provided with atransverse bolt K which engages the apertures in the rod I, and whichbolt is operated by the lever L acting upon a pin K on the bolt K insuch a manner that when the mechanism of the clock, such as any alarmclock for operating the alarm, is liberated at the predetermined time atwhich the dial is set, the lever L draws the bolt K from the setposition and liberates the link I and thereby frees the chain F andpermits it to be actuated under the counterbalance lever D with theresult that the valve or damper G is closed and the damper'E is opened,so that the full draft is put upon the furnace in an automatic mannerand at the predetermined time governed by the setting of the mechanismof the clock which has heretofore been considered as the alarmmechanism. It is to be understood that the clock may be provided with analarm mechanism, if desired, but the bell portion thereof would, ofcourse, not be of any value in this improvement, and consequently myreference to the alarm mechanism of the clock is only employed forconvenience in designating that portion of any ordinary clock which hasheretofore been used to ring the hell or alarm, but which in the presentcase is utilized to withdraw the bolt K.

, By providing a series of holes J, it is evident that the relativeopening or closing of the two dampers E and C may be adjusted to thatdesired to insure the requisite draft being normally kept upon thefurnace during the night; and while this is a convenient andsatisfactory way of securing the said adjustment, it is evident thatsuch adjustment may be made by other means, such as by employing a hookF in the chain F to vary the length of the chain leading to the damper Eand thereby permitting the damper E to be opened or closed to a greateror less extenteven though only a single aperture J was employed in therod 1.

As a convenient mode of connecting the guide wheels G and the clockmechanism L, in definite correlation and for attaching them to thecellar ceiling in a convenient manner, we provide the construction nowto be described. A compound horizontal bar H is provided and consists oftwo superimposed slotted bars H and H to the opposite ends of which barsthe respective guide wheels G are supported. The superimposed slottedbars H and H are secured together by means of bolts 0 passing throughthe slots N and engaging the hangers P, which may be secured to thefloor joists overhead by means of the lag screws P. By thisconstruction, the distance apart of the two guide rollers G may beincreased or decreased to suit the positions of the dampers on thefurnace. From the bar H, there extends a downwardly projecting bracket Mto which is secured the clock mechanism. Any other suitable means forguiding the chain and supporting the clock in proper corre lation may beemployed in lieu of that chain; and though I have shown the means asadapted for being secured to the joists overhead, it will be understoodthat the supporting frame H, of whatever character it may be, may beclamped to any convenient stationary part found in basements or cellarsof buildings, such as pipes, walls or brackets of various characters, itbeing immaterial to our invention as to What kind of support is providedfor this frame H, so long as the dampers are properly operated by thechains. It will also be understood that the mechanism maybe employed foroperating the damper or valve C alone. or for operating the damper Ealone, in those cases where only one of these dampers is employed. Inthe case of operating the damper 0 alone, the "counterweighted arm Dwill close the damper whenever the bolt K is Withdrawn, the end of thechain shown as connected with the damper E would in this case operatenothing but would merely be acting as a weight to hold the rod Ihorizontal. If the device was intended to operate the damper E alone,then the counterweighted lever D or an equivalent counterweight would beemployed for the purpose of lifting this damper E, in which case thedamper C would be omitted.

While we prefer the construction shown, we do not limit ourselves to thedetails thereof, as these may be modified in various ways withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

Having now described our invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. A damper regulating means for furnaces,consisting in a damper to control the draft of the furnace, a chain tocontrol the operation of the damper, a bar connected with the chain andhaving a series of apertures, a bolt adapted to engage one or other ofthe apertures of the bar to hold the damper in a preadjusted position toprovide the minimum draft desired to be normally upon the furnace, and aclock mechanism provided with an automatic mechanism to operate the boltat a predetermined specific time whereby said bolt may be withdrawn toliberate the damper for the purpose of increasing the draft of thefurnace.

2. A furnace with draft controlling means, combined with a chainconnected with the draft controlling means, guide wheels arranged at adistance apart over which the chain is guided, a horizontal framecarrying the guide wheels and having means for attachment to a place ofsupport, a clock mechanism of the alarm clock variety having a movableengaging part for holding the chain against movement over the guidewheels until a predetermined time, and means for varying the point ofengagement between the clock mechanism and the chain whereby the chainmay be locked in different positions of longitudinal adjustment upon thepulleys.

3. A furnace with draft controlling means, combined with a chainconnected with the draft controlling means, guide wheels arranged atadistance apart over which the chain is guided, a horizontal framecomprising two bars adjustably connected torelatively to each other andeach of the bars respectively supporting one of the guide In testimonyof which invention, We herepulleys and having means for attachment tounto set our hands.

a place of support, and a clock mechanism of THOMAS H. RHODES.

the alarm clock variety secured to one of FREDERICK RHODES. 5 the barsand having movable engaging part Witnesses:

for holding the chain against movement over ERNEST STEPHEN,

the guide Wheels until a predetermined time. J. L. BREITIGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O.

